President 2008: The Blue Wave

The map for president in 2008 shows Connecticut swept by a massive blue wave. Take a look (click for larger view):

What we see here is striking, especially compared with four years ago. Here’s the 2004 map (color scheme is a little different, but you’ll get the idea):

Obama won big in some strong Republican territories, and held down margins over 2004 in others. He even won Greenwich.

Let me say that again. Barack Obama won Greenwich, and he won it by a decent margin.

Republican-won towns have virtually ceased to exist east of the Connecticut River (with a few exceptions). This is one reason for Joe Courtney’s big win, though there are many others. Obama has made significant inroads over Kerry in the traditionally GOP western third of the state, and easily rolled in the Connecticut Valley. The amount of dark blue, denoting Obama wins of 20%+, is staggering. This was a landslide for the Illinois senator.

In this kind of climate, it’s a wonder any Republicans survived at all.

Interestingly, Jim Himes significantly underperformed Obama in the 4th district, while Joe Courtney outperformed him in the 2nd (I haven’t taken a close look at 5th district numbers yet). Himes lost several towns, including his hometown of Greenwich, that Obama won. Fortunately, Obama brought out so many people in the cities that Himes was able to squeak by.